In the past few decades, China has experienced remarkable growth. It is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the G-20. It has the world's largest standing army, the world's second largest economy and has reduced national poverty by more than half. How did China emerge from the decline and unrest of the 19th century to become the global power that we see today?

According to John Delury and Orville Schell, the country's past provides an understanding of the forces that molded modern China. Many influential figures in China's history were driven by their pursuit of wealth and power, and a desire for the restoration of national greatness, ambitions that have come to define the modern Chinese character. Delury and Schell will offer insights into how China's past shaped its present, and what we might expect in the future.Speakers: Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director, Center on US-China Relations, Asia Societyhttp://www.worldaffairs.org/speakers/profile/orville-schell.html

John Delury, Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies, Yonsei Universityhttp://www.worldaffairs.org/speakers/profile/john-delury.htm

Moderator: Thomas Gold, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeleyhttp://www.worldaffairs.org/speakers/profile/thomas-gold.html